Winning
by HawkofNavarre
Summary: Not every battle needs to be won to be a winner. Family-centric. Gildartz x Cana


**Author's Note: **This is an example fic for round 2 of The NEW FairyTail Writing Challenges. Word count is 1139 according to MS Word. Also, I'm stressed out to the max, so I hope the editing is okay. I apologize to everyone in the competition if my writing is a suck-fest. This was also written before chapter 299 came out, so I was pleasantly surprised when Gildartz(s?) was featured fanboying over his daughter. :)_  
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Enjoy!

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**_Winning_** by HawkofNavarre

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_How did that beautiful creature ever come from me?_

It'd been a while since he'd returned to the guild and thus, it had been quite a while since Gildartz had last seen his daughter. It never ceased to amaze him just how gorgeous the girl—_woman_—who shared his DNA was. He could barely stop marvelling at her while she challenged Macao to a drinking match.

"Hey, Gildartz, why don't you take her on?" the former guild master suggested tiredly. "You'd probably give her a challenge. She has to have gotten that insane tolerance from _someone_."

"He's got a point there, old man. You up for it?" Cana smirked and the older mage was immediately reminded of his haughty-self years ago.

"You said it yourself: I'm an old man; I can't hold my liquor anymore," Gildartz shot back with a lazy smile.

Macao seemed to back away from the conversation as the card magician got in his face even more. It was wise of the guy not to get in the way of a family…argument, especially since Gildartz had caught the other man leering at Cana back before the Tenrou Island incident. Yeah, he'd noticed and like hell _that_ was happening.

"You're drinking whiskey," she pointed out smugly, flicking his little glass with her index finger.

"Guess you caught me. Am I allowed to refuse this little game?"

"What, you afraid to lose to your little girl?"

The fire in her eyes made him grin. Determination, arrogance, and absolute beauty…just like her mother.

How could he turn that down?

"Bring the beer."

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"Hope you have that tap ready," Macao warned Mirajane behind the bar.

Gildartz exchanged looks with his daughter, Cana with a mug already in hand and beer filled to its brim. The white-haired barmaid was reassuring the former guild master with a smile as the powerful mage's mind began to wander. It was strange to think that he was about to participate in a drinking competition with his only child. It wasn't really a conventional bonding activity between parent and child, but at least it was something. He'd missed so much in her life that it was hard for him to take any of these little moments for granted. But still, drinking…?

Mirajane pass him a full mug and father and daughter clinked their glasses together. The dark-haired female was confident and ready, and suddenly, the red-haired man couldn't wait for things to start.

"Begin!" the transforming specialist shouted, both competitors immediately getting down to business.

He kept his eyes on the miracle he'd been a part of creating as he chugged his drink, watching proudly as his little girl downed the mug in three seconds flat without even blinking. While it wasn't really ideal for a father to be proud of his daughter's amazing ability to be an alcoholic with hardly any side effects, he couldn't help it. The Crash wizard was so reminded of himself in his younger days when he looked at her. He'd had it all: money, power, women, and booze.

Seeing Cana, though, just seeing her act so much like the younger version of himself reminded him of everything he'd missed. Even when she'd arrived at the guild at such a young age, he hadn't paid much attention to her despite this tugging feeling of familiarity when he'd initially taken in her image. He'd brushed it off as his mind playing games and had gone about his business as usual.

The consequences of his actions? Gildartz had missed everything in between.

As he and Cana started on their sixth mugs each and the voices rooting them on faded into the background, the middle-aged mage imagined all the experience he'd lost with his daughter. He'd never be able to hold her as a baby in his arms, or remember the first time her little fist wrapped around his finger. He'd never get to change her diaper or feed her or do cool magic tricks to make her fall asleep.

Both participants were on their eighteenth glass and Cana showed no signs of slowing down. Gildartz didn't even feel buzzed as he gulped down more liquid, wishing he could have bought her a doll she loved for her third birthday and played with her at the park. He wished he could have brought her to magic school—or could have taught her some himself. He wished he could have brushed her hair in the mornings like a dork or cooked her breakfast (which she would have ended up insulting and remaking because his cooking was crap, and hers would be delicious).

Cana seemed a little tipsy when they finished emptying the 23rd barrel while Gildartz was beginning to feel slightly tingly. He would have loved to be there to beat the crap out of her first boyfriend, or at least been able to explain to her that anything with testicles was evil and that she should stay away from them at all costs. Hell, he would've loved to go bra shopping with her for the first time! Sure, he might have freaked out at first (because _boobs!_), but what were dads for? He would have supported her more…loved her more… Mavis, what had she done when she'd gotten her first period? Did she know what sex was? Did she know where she was supposed to put _what_?

…Huh, maybe he was a little drunk after all…

By the 67th barrel, the dark-haired female looked about ready to pass out. She had slowed down considerably, eyelids drooping and head nodding. Gildartz smiled, feeling good as he slumped out of his chair onto the floor with a dopey face, knocking his mug over in the process. He closed his eyes and listened as his darling girl roared in victory.

He'd lost his arm, his love, and all those wonderful moments that he might've been able to share with his daughter over the years. He'd lost against Acnologia—twice—and he was on his merry way to lose against the battle of old age, but all of that was okay.

He had a wonderful daughter, the best family a person could ask for, and was surrounded by happiness and fun. Today, he'd been able to share a moment with his little girl that he would treasure forever.

In the end, yeah, maybe he'd lost more than enough for a lifetime, but for all that he'd lost, he'd gained so much more. He could afford one more loss…

"H-ha! Knew ya old guy didn't hab'it in 'im!" he heard Cana slur before belching loudly. He heard their friends congratulate her as she trashed talked the opponent she'd "defeated" in all her inebriation. He heard her laughing and shouting and having the time of her life.

Yes, he could afford one more loss…as long as it made her smile.


End file.
